Quantum Computing (QUBT) Q2 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

What can you share about the enhancements to DIRAC-3 regarding additional variables?

Yuping Huang confirmed significant progress has been made in enhancing DIRAC-3's functionality to support more variables, stating that news would be coming out in the next few months and expressing confidence that this would unlock additional markets.

“I'm very happy to report that John, we have made pretty good progress on that. So I would advise you to watch out for some news coming out in the coming months.”

asked by John McPeake · answered by Yuping Huang

Have the company's CapEx needs changed following the NHanced acquisition, given their existing capabilities?

Chris Roberts stated that they are evaluating upgrades for the NHanced facility, estimating a cost of $50 million to $100 million, likely closer to $75 million, but clarified that significant spending on this would not occur this year.

“We're looking at less than we would take to build out a whole new facility. So probably in the $50 million to $100 million range, probably closer to $75 million is what we're looking at, but we don't have that -- it's still in the planning stages, and we're probably not going to spend anywhere near that this year.”

asked by John McPeake · answered by Christopher Roberts

How has the $42.5 million backlog trended in the past month or two since June 30?

Chris Roberts explained that the backlog tends to move in 'fits and spurts' and there hasn't been significant change in the last 40 days. He noted that the contracts are typically performed over 12 to 18 months, indicating it's not a quick-turn business.

“The kind of contracts we're dealing with, the backlog tends to move in fits and spurts. There'll be a quiet week and then there'll be a very big week. So there hasn't been a lot of change in the last 40 days.”

asked by Maxwell Michaelis · answered by Christopher Roberts

Which end market (government, educational, commercial) is currently showing the best traction for customer conversations and potential orders?

Chris Roberts stated that government agencies, primarily through subcontracts, account for 70-80% of their business, followed by commercial, with educational being a distant third. He anticipates a gradual shift towards commercial markets over time.

“Right now, roughly 70%, 80% of our business comes from government contracting, mainly as a subcontracting.”

asked by Maxwell Michaelis · answered by Christopher Roberts

Is the benchmarking data for DIRAC-3 against other optimization machines publicly available?

Yuping Huang confirmed that a portion of the data has been published in journals and presented by customers, but internal benchmarks are not published. He offered to provide a collection of relevant papers and presentations.

“I believe at least a portion of the data have been published in journals. And I have also watched some of our customers reporting the findings in their presentations.”

asked by Nehal Chokshi · answered by Yuping Huang

What are the key engineering challenges for building a Quantum gate-based machine using single photons, beyond optical loss?

Yuping Huang explained that beyond photon-photon interaction (the basis for logic), challenges include integrating lasers, single photon detectors, and controlling electronics onto a single chip for a self-contained, room-temperature system. He highlighted that acquisitions like Luminar and NHanced are crucial for developing these heterogeneous integrated chips.

“So we needed to have a self-contained system that will require us to have the lasers, the single photon detectors, controlling electronics, all integrated on a single chip. This is actually the fundamental reasons why we have acquired Luminar Semiconductor Inc, have acquired NHanced because we are looking at developing those heterogeneous integrated chips to support our Quantum computing platform and all the other Quantum technologies.”

asked by Nehal Chokshi · answered by Yuping Huang

Will the company need to significantly invest in its sales force to expand commercial opportunities?

Chris Roberts confirmed they are investing, having recently hired Susan Hunt as the new Chief Revenue Officer with an aggressive plan for hiring in both commercial and government sales. Yuping Huang added that the company's technology and manufacturing capabilities have reached an inflection point, making it ready to embrace the market at a sizable scale.

“we are very much going to emphasize sales going forward and try and build that backlog up as fast as we can.”

asked by Edward Woo · answered by Christopher Roberts